


Businessmen Drink Machiattos

by elrondofrivendell



Category: TOLKIEN J. R. R. - Works & Related Fandoms, The Lord of the Rings - All Media Types, The Silmarillion and other histories of Middle-Earth - J. R. R. Tolkien
Genre: Barista AU, Fluff, M/M, angbang
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-02-06
Updated: 2016-02-14
Packaged: 2018-05-18 11:24:16
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,474
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5926717
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/elrondofrivendell/pseuds/elrondofrivendell
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Based on the prompt "I’m a barista and you’re the obnoxious customer who comes through and orders a venti macchiato while talking on the phone the whole time so I misspell your name in increasingly creative ways every day AU."  Fluff for the sake of fluff.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I've had this sitting around for quite a while, but I decided to edit it for Fluffy February. It's not crack, but I wouldn't take it super seriously. It is a coffeeshop AU for Angbang after all... :) I've never written a true AU before, but I did have fun with it and if you guys have interest in seeing this continue leave a kudos/comment and I'll post some more!
> 
> Update 2/07/2016: There will definitely be a chapter 2 and likely several more throughout February at least. Look for the next one around/on Valentine's Day!

Becoming a barista at Starbucks had never been in Mairon's 10-year plan, but college was a lot more expensive than he had expected so he had picked up a job on the side.

Most days weren't bad. Mairon had found that he was actually quite good at making drinks. He always mixed them perfectly and a lot of the regulars left him big tips which helped cheer him up throughout the day. Today, however, was a nightmare. The couple across the hall from Mairon's apartment had woken him up at 3am and he hadn't been able to get back to sleep after that which had left him grumpy and tired. He had chugged a few cups of coffee over before heading into work at 6:30 only to find that the closers from the night before had left a huge mess that his boss expected him to clean up. So by the time 8:30 rolled around and a very tall man talking loudly on his cell came into the store Mairon's patience was already worn thin.

“Yeah yeah have them send over a report....I don't give a damn if they're busy! ….Whatever, just shut the hell up I'll do it myself!”

People looked up from their cups at the man in annoyance as he held his loud phone conversation with who Mairon assumed must be one of his employees. The tall man was wearing black suit pants and a silk shirt, but instead of the matching suit jacket he had chosen instead to wear a leather biker jacket. Mairon pinned him as someone who was probably obsessed with their self-worth and the outfit came off a little contrived instead of the badass cool vibe that this guy was obviously going for. Mairon had to admit that he was attractive though. Silky black hair waved far past his shoulders and under the jacket he appeared broad and well-muscled. Mairon might have left him a smiley on his cup if he hadn't come in talking on his phone like an asshole.

The man had ended the phone call and everyone in the store seemed relived as he walked up to the counter to order, but just as he reached Mairon the phone beeped and he put it up to his ear again and started talking, loud voice booming over Mairon's head.

“Listen up you little bitch!” He stared straight at Mairon.

“Um...excuse me?” Mairon asked, holding his anger at bay in the hopes that the comment had been directed at the recipient of he phone call.

“Not you- caramel machiatto.” The man hurriedly spat out in one mouthful before turning away to yell again. “If you don't send that report in ten minutes I'm going to come over there myself and rip off your useless arms. You hear me, punk?”

“Do you want whipped cream with that?” Mairon ventured with an exaggerated eye-roll, aware that he probably wasn't going to receive an answer.

The tall man turned back around to Mairon's surprise. “Yes. For Melkor.” He sounded almost annoyed that Mairon had asked, but at least he had acknowledged the question which was more than Mairon had expected from him. The man walked away and ended his call and Mairon began preparing the drink. Melkor? Did I even hear that right? What kind of a name is Melkor? Mairon was sure that he hadn't heard right, but how couldn't he have with the man's obnoxiously loud voice? He pressed the lid onto the drink and picked up a sharpie debating what the heck he was supposed to write with it. He saw the man looking at him from the corner with a frown and figured if Melkor really was his name he was probably used to having it misspelled. Mairon was familiar with the phenomenon of course and he hoped this man would give others the same slack that he would. He pressed the sharpie to the cup and gave it his best shot. M-E-L-C-O-R-E. _Oh no...that doesn't look right! Oh crap oh crap!_ Mairon panicked as he saw the man start to come over, sensing that his drink was done. Mairon cringed and hoped this wouldn't get him the same treatment as the people who had been on the phone.

“Hi. That'll be $4.29.” Mairon put on his best fake smile, but inside he was screaming.

The man called Melkor pulled out a credit card and handed it to Mairon who swiped it and handed it back with a receipt.

“Here's your drink.” Mairon picked up the cup and held it out.

Melkor finished tucking away the credit card and reached out to take it, wrapping his large hand around the cup and brushing fingers with Mairon when he paused. Mairon saw that his eyes had landed on the misspelled name on the cup and braced himself for a verbal beating. He was immensely surprised when instead the man broke out in a grin.

Mairon let out a silent breath of relief. “I'm sorry...I probably spelled your name wrong.” Mairon said when the man still hadn't taken the cup, trapping Mairon's fingers underneath his own larger ones.

“Yes, you did.” Melkor said with a teasing smile while he locked eyes with the shorter man.

“If you don't mind my asking how do you spell it?”

“Maybe I'll just have to come back every day until you guess right.” Melkor let go of Mairon's fingers and winked at him before turning and walking out the door. Mairon watched him go, mouth slightly agape before he composed himself and ducked behind the counter to clean a blender.

A hot blush set upon his cheeks and he could still feel the ghost touch of the resident asshole on his hand. As the adrenaline in his veins began to dissipate he started to feel ashamed of himself. He never let customers treat him like that and all the sudden some hot guy in a tacky outfit walks in and makes him blush? This was not happening again tomorrow. Mairon settled the flare of anger that was burning in his chest with daydreams of telling _Melkor_ exactly where he could stick it and possibly dumping that caramel machiatto on his shirt. And at no point during the rest of the day did Mairon have a single thought about Melkor having to take off his drenched shirt and exactly what might be underneath it. Not one.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mairon has a confrontation with his problematic customer, who he just can't seem to get away from.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy Valentine's Day! Thank you guys for reading and leaving so much positive feedback! Here is chapter 2, as promised. I hope the short length of these chapters doesn't bother anyone- that's the price I pay for being a procrastinator =P I do plan on continuing this until some sort of conclusion or until NanoCamp starts up in April since I'm having so much fun with it. Without further ado-enjoy!

The next day started out significantly better for Mairon. He slept through the night and woke up early to make breakfast (pancakes and orange juice) while he watched the morning news. The handsome anchor was announcing some story about the resort town of Valinor, but even though Mairon had grown up there he found his mind kept wandering back to the man he had met the day before. He wondered if he really would come in every day until Mairon got his name right. The thought put a scowl on his face. _The nerve! How dare he come into my place of employment and harass me like that!_ Mairon had watched some of the other baristas tolerate customers flirting with them, but Mairon had always been repulsed by it. He was there to work and that was it, no funny business. 

He sipped his orange juice and weighed the likelihood that his day would end in confrontation...and possibly jail. People like Melkor were often all talk. He was probably a businessman- too busy to bother “courting” the barista at the local Starbucks. Mairon sighed and finished his breakfast before heading out to another day of presumed monotony. 

Mairon had all of his regular customers- several businesswomen, a short man in a straw hat, and a grumpy businessman who always chuckled at the funnies when he thought no one was looking and the morning passed without incident. He had just come back from his noontime break when his heart stopped cold. In the corner of the shop, leaning up against the wall and staring directly at him, was Melkor. Mairon swallowed hard. Dressed again in all black he looked like some bad-boy biker come to steal him away for prom on his motorcycle. Mairon quickly averted his eyes and tried to compose himself as he walked behind the counter to his station a little stiffer than usual. He shuffled around a few papers by the register to appear busy, but Melkor pushed off the wall with his heel and strutted over to the counter anyways. 

Mairon felt a shadow cast on him from behind and then the words: “Caramel Machiatto.” Mairon let out a deep breath before turning around. _Jesus this guy is tall._ He practically blotted out the midday sun that was streaming in the glass storefront, leaving Mairon in darkness. He tilted his head up and locked eyes with Melkor. 

“Would you like whipped cream with that?” Mairon tried to relay how pissed off he was with his tone, but only managed not to sound completely shaken.

“Oh yes.” Melkor drawled with a hint of a smirk. Mairon's cheeks flushed and he spun around on his heel. 

“Coming right up.” He spat and set about making the drink as loudly and poorly as he could, but he was sure he heard a soft “I'll bet it is” from the man behind him. 

Mairon put the absolute minimum about of caramel syrup into the drink and topped it off with an absurd amount of whipped cream. He took extra care to make sure the whipped cream peaked through the top of the lid and rimmed it so it would melt and get the cup sticky. Mairon picked up the sharpie and pondered how he was going to spell 'Melkor'. Part of him wished he knew the proper spelling so this game could all be over, but he genuinely didn't and he didn't want to give this dick the satisfaction of him playing along. He seemed like he had a big enough ego already. Mairon decided on M-E-L-C-H-O-R and called the name. Melkor stood up from the table where he had been waiting and approached the counter. 

“That'll be-” Mairon started firmly, but was cut off by Melkor presenting a palm-full of bills and coins. 

“$4.29” Melkor finished. Surprisingly his voice seemed devoid of sass, which took Mairon aback. 

“Uh yes...thank you.” Mairon held out his hand for Melkor to drop the change into, but the man staring into his eyes did not budge, causing Mairon to reach into the hand himself to grab the money. _And just when I thought he might not be so bad._ Melkor closed his hand slightly so that their skin touched as he extracted the bills. Mairon yanked his hand away furiously and looked the man dead-on. 

“I don't know who the hell you think you are, but if you pull anything like that again I'll break your fingers!” Mairon hissed low enough to not cause a scene, but Melkor, whose eyes went wide, seemed to get the point. 

“I didn't mean to offend you.” Melkor sounded defensive, but Mairon could sense his embarrassment. He put the money in the drawer (exact change) and held out the coffee again for Melkor to take. 

“Well you did. Get out.” Melkor grimaced, took the coffee, and left. It took Mairon a few minutes to settle, but he felt pretty damn good about how that went. It had been a confrontation, but not nearly as bad as it could have been. He went about the rest of his day with a skip in his step, feeling pretty badass for a barista. 

\---

Wednesday was Mairon's day off, which he celebrated by sleeping in. He had had a few glasses of wine the night before after his shift was over and had ended up staying up late to watch Wolf of Wallstreet, which was playing on TV. Mairon was taking a few business classes in school and though he wasn't sure he had any interest in taking on the stock market, he did have to admit that the luxury lifestyle was alluring (minus the drugs perhaps). 

His high-roller fantasies had him in a chipper mood and after a late breakfast he treated himself to a shopping trip in the city's fashion district. He put on his suede coat and walked to the center of town. It was a bit of a walk, but it was a gorgeous day and he couldn't pass up the opportunity to snap a few photos at the park along the way. He passed under the wrought-iron archway and meandered along the path until he reached a grove of pines. He then stepped off the path and wandered between them, trying to capture the light through the tops of the branches at a good angle. He had just gotten a good photo when he felt something besides pine needles underfoot and looked down to realize he had stepped on someone's book. 

“Sorry!” He quickly took his foot off the book and backed away apologetically from the person sitting with their back against a pine, apparently studying. They didn't look up from their notebook, simply picked up the book and dusted it off, looking annoyed and that's when Mairon realized. _Oh shit!_ Dressed in jeans and a black coat with his long hair tied back Mairon had not recognized Melkor at first. He turned and started walking away as quickly as he could, hoping he could get out of there before Melkor recognized him. He had just made it back to the path when he heard Melkor call out indistinctly behind him. He broke into a jog and was soon out of the park and hidden among the crowds on the street. 

Whatever Melkor had wanted to say to him he was sure it wasn't good and he really _really_ did not feel like arguing with some asshole on his day off. Or maybe the problem was that he did want to argue with him, maybe a little too much. He had always had a bad temper and he couldn't imagine anything as satisfying as punching Melkor right in the jaw. Unfortunately he was pretty sure Melkor would definitely whoop his ass if he did. He was a good foot and a half taller than him and all muscle. Mairon took a seat at an outdoor cafe and ordered a cup of tea. He mused about ways that this feud of theirs could end and most of the options he could come up with didn't end well. His tea arrived and broke his train of thought. Someone had left a newspaper on the table and he began flipping though it while he sipped his tea and soon forgot all about the 6 foot 5 thorn in his side. At least for the moment.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you guys enjoyed! We'll get into actual stuff happening next chapter and there will be a lot more interaction between them so I'm excited to work on that. I think I'll try to update weekly(ish) since deadlines are a good motivator for me so have a great week everyone! <3

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you guys for reading and if you want more let me know!


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